OldLeekConfession

Amidst a downturn in the cryptocurrency market, XRP's price has dropped to $1.69. Ripple's leadership, notably CEO Brad Garlinghouse, remains optimistic, bolstering investor confidence despite market volatility and short-term price declines. Their successful fundraising of a $700 million ETF indicates strong institutional trust in XRP, reinforcing a positive market sentiment.

Nick Carter from Castle Island Ventures expresses concerns about X platform's new algorithm, highlighting its impact on creator-audience connections and the need for transparency in digital property rights for creators.

The cryptocurrency market faces macroeconomic headwinds, with Bitcoin stagnant around $87,990 and Ethereum declining 3.21%. Investors are shifting to safer assets, causing gold to reach record highs while altcoins show mixed performance amidst low liquidity.

Strategy (MSTR) is a publicly traded company that creates corporate value through long-term Bitcoin holdings, with recent changes in capital structure and credit risk management drawing attention. The significant increase in the number of shares and solid cash reserves demonstrate a stable financial position while maintaining a correlation with the overall crypto asset market.

Recent reports indicate a significant influx of $13 million into Bitcoin call options, suggesting institutional investors are bullish on Bitcoin price movements in Q1. This pattern may signal a prelude to a substantial price increase as market dynamics adjust.

The essay discusses the structural issues in prediction markets, especially highlighted by events like Maduro's arrest and the Zelensky suit debate. It argues that the markets, often seen as truth-discovery engines, may instead favor insiders, raising concerns about governance and regulatory responses as they grow in popularity. Acknowledging their true nature as high-risk financial products could lead to better regulation and transparency, paving the way for sustainable market practices.

Michael Saylor (Founder and Chairman of Strategy) appeared on the "What Bitcoin Did" podcast and emphasized that the true progress of Bitcoin lies not in short-term price movements but in the acceleration of institutional and foundational adoption. He detailed why 2025 has become a historic turning point and outlined Strategy's vision for the digital credit market.
Acceleration of Institutional Adoption and Completion of Fundamental Infrastructure — Why 2025 Became a Turning Point
Saylor points out that 2025 is not just a year of price increases but a year when Bitcoin's institutional foundation fundamentally changed. The number of companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets reached 202

Vitalik Buterin discusses in his paper "Balance of Power" the critical challenge of balancing power concentration and decentralization in crypto projects. He emphasizes that both business model and decentralization design are crucial for long-term sustainability, arguing that effective governance structures are essential to minimize risk.

Convex has launched an open-source project called AI Town, allowing developers to create customizable AI simulation environments using JavaScript without complex setups. Supported by major investors, this initiative aims to make AI development accessible to web developers and enhance Convex's competitive edge in developer tools.

The mcp-server-git project by Anthropic has several serious security vulnerabilities due to insufficient validation of path parameters, allowing prompt injection attacks. Administrators and developers must urgently address these issues. The vulnerabilities include CVE-2025-68143, which permits malicious Git repository creation, and CVE-2025-68144, enabling argument injection in git commands. Users are strongly recommended to update to version 2025.12.18 to mitigate these risks.

Finland's President Stubb expresses cautious views on U.S. military dominance over Greenland amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Nordic region. His stance highlights the importance of independent decision-making for Nordic countries and their strategic positioning within NATO.

The X platform has revamped the "Global Trends" page, adding a new Meme category to make it easier for users to access internet meme culture. This update will enable more efficient content discovery.

Once, Asian investors trading US stocks had to stay up late to monitor the market. Now, this dilemma is about to change— but the cost is far more complex than imagined. In mid-December 2025, Nasdaq officially submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), planning to extend US stock trading hours from the current five days a week, 16 hours a day (pre-market/regular/after-hours), to five days a week, 23 hours a day. Once approved, US stocks will trade from 9:00 PM on Sunday to 8:00 PM on Friday, leaving only a 1-hour maintenance window (8:00-9:00 PM) each day. The logic behind this goes far beyond the surface reason of "meeting Asian investors' needs"; it is a highly coordinated institutional effort aimed at pushing traditional finance toward a "never-closing" tokenized future.
From evening trading to 24/7: When will US stock trading rules change?

The article discusses the behavior of small-cap stocks and their correlation with other assets such as cryptocurrencies, pointing out that the Russell 2000 index breaking new highs suggests a restart of capital flows, and investors should closely monitor this trend. Historical patterns show that when small-cap stocks rise, risk appetite tends to spread to higher-risk assets, and improvements in market infrastructure provide structural support for this momentum. Smart followers should position themselves early in the trend rather than relying solely on signals from the crypto market.

X (formerly Twitter) is facing a community trust crisis after restricting high-interaction users' reply frequency, triggering backlash in the crypto community. However, the product director subsequently launched the "Smart Cashtags" feature, aimed at improving the accuracy of asset tags and information retrieval efficiency. This move coincides with the controversy, raising questions about whether it is a crisis public relations strategy. Rebuilding trust requires deeper community respect and understanding.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $90.19K, with analysts focusing on the 200-week moving average as a key support level. The continued accumulation by whales and changes in investor structure indicate a bullish signal, but if the price falls below the $27,235 moving average, the bullish outlook will be challenged. The market needs to observe the performance of the 200-week moving average in the coming weeks to determine whether Bitcoin will reach new highs or continue to consolidate.

Large traders are once again shaking the cryptocurrency market. A notable move by the "1011 insider whale" involved a deposit of 112,894 ETH (approximately $337 million) to Binance, indicating strategic market positioning. This behavior highlights the growing significance of on-chain analysis in tracking significant capital movements and their potential impact on market dynamics.

On December 26, security researchers discovered a critical vulnerability in the Trust Wallet browser extension, version 2.68, that could steal users' mnemonic phrases through malicious code. This exploit, embedded in a file, exemplifies supply chain attacks and potentially leaked sensitive user data. Users are urged to take immediate security measures.

MegaETH has announced a significant expansion of its presale, responding to high demand after a brief interruption. The original deposit limit quickly sold out in 156 seconds, prompting plans to raise it to $1 billion. Security audits ensure user asset protection, and early participants retain their rights amid the project's growth.

The HyperLiquid team has unstaked 2.6 million HYPE tokens and reallocated approximately $89.2 million worth of funds. Some are being restaked, while others are being put into the market to ensure liquidity. This move reflects the team's long-term strategy and market adaptation.